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Traveling advice
Darmak
RAGEvympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
RAGEvympyvvhyc vyctyvyRegistered User regular
My wife and I are wanting to travel outside of the US for an extended period of time (1 to 3 months) but we have no experience with this sort of thing. I know we'll need passports and we have pets so we'll have to make arrangements for someone to take care of them but I was wanting to know if anyone had any advice for us? Like, how to travel cheaply and safely and what kind of expenses we would be looking at (I am going to be saving up and I'd like a rough estimate on how much I'd need if that's possible) and cool things to do and see. We'd be going to Europe, mostly the UK and France and Italy and some other places perhaps. We would like to go in about a year's time but we can hold off longer if needed for planning reasons and such.
So, does anyone have any advice they can pass on?
So, does anyone have any advice they can pass on?
Darmak on
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Do either of you speak any foreign languages? Learn the basics of where you'll be traveling.
1) Railpass. Esh has the right of it.
2) No hostels. Hostels are great for singles, but a very uncomfortable hell for couples. Plan to pay for hotels during your trip (and assume a price-range higher for the hotel cost per night than what you actually want to pay, so when you find a deal you are freeing money rather than losing it).
3) France, Switzerland, and Italy are all more expensive than you would expect compared to the UK and Germany. This is both because it can be harder to find "local" fare (and tourist locations will vamp you out of all they can) and because their relative economies make food prices more expensive. Switzerland is especially expensive for food and accommodation, so prepare accordingly.
4) Language skills, know some of where you are visiting (the necessary bits like hello, where is the chemist/hotel/whatever, help police, etc). Charming as the Hovercraft is Full of Eels guy persona can be, most folk (especially the French) will often not help you.
5) If you can carry everything comfortably on your person, you will have a much more entertaining time traveling (especially if you are staying in hotels large and nice enough to have washing machines). Having luggage to leave behind means worrying about your luggage every time you travel, and waiting on it to be stowed and brought out. NOTE: Plane carry on laws are based upon the country you are departing from. While the US allows a carry on bag (small suitcase) & a personal item (your ds bag/ladies' purse, etc), the UK only allows one item. Research this before you fly.
6) Plan out "safety" locations for each area you are traveling. These should be place you can easily get to via your rail that are safe to travel in for tourists, have lots of hotels and cheap food, and money changers. It also helps to know where the US embassy is in each country you are visiting. If things go horribly bad (your planned hotel is full, you get robbed, you get separated etc), you will want to be able to go to your safety area to meet up and regroup.
7) Most places don't have American style table service unless you are at a very fancy restaurant. Pubs, restaurants, and cafes expect you to walk up to the counter to order, then return to your table for delivery. Most tourist areas will come over to your table if you wait to ask if you are American and to explain the rules, but non-touristy areas will likely be frustrated to angry for non-customers seeming to take up their tables. Research the local customs.
8) And most important, after you calculate what you expect to need for your trip, multiply it by 1.5 and then save up that much for it. If all goes well you won't have to use it, but if something goes wrong or you decide to spend more than you expect its better to have a cushion.
9) Luxembourg has very few places to eat and see, and the lines to get your passport stamped are ridiculously long from all the people who simply want to visit to get their passport stamped. You can waste half a day here and not even get into the tiny country.
10) Don't visit Oxford on a Sunday. Nothing will be open.
11) Edinburgh is a must visit.
They take American cards.
Just Google like "French table manners/restaurant/travelling" or whatever and you'll come up with tons of sites.
If you need specifics for France, I can help. I spent 5 months studying there.
It's a good idea to have a few cards in case they don't accept your specific one (same with in the us, the fancier the card the more expensive it is to use it as a company, cheaper places will only have Visa/Mastercard Nicer places will have discover and AmEx, etc).
Something that rocked me was my cell phone not being operable abroad. Many roaming plans only count for North America unless you pay for a specific Europe plan.
That rocked you? Do you understand how expensive it would be to use even if it did work?
You can buy a cheap pay-as-you-go phone for when you're there. That's the best solution. Use the internet to communicate with back home.
Could I use my current phone's wifi to surf the web, even if my regular data stuff didn't work? (Probably will get one of those pay-as-you-go phones too)
Rocked me in that my phone didn't work. I had "out of country roaming" included on my plan in case of emergencies, first time I went abroad I didn't realize that "out of country" can mean a lot of things. The main thing I learned from this is that burn phones and computers with skype/phones with wifi are great alternatives. Folks back home thought I was dead after two weeks with no communication whatsoever. :0
UK will have frequent usable hotspots in the cities, but I wouldn't assume many other places outside of your hotels will, and even then only if you have a moderately nice hotel.
Buy a sim card once you're in the UK, get your phone unlocked or buy a cheap phone here. UK networks work in Europe, too, and most phone companies have changed their call plans to make them more reasonable.
London is expensive; the further north you travel the less so. Check out airbnb for room rentals in houses, there are some good deals to be had.
If you go to France, be very polite, and try to speak French, even if you're rubbish at it, they will love it that you try.
For paintings in progress, check out canvas and paints
"The power of the weirdness compels me."
Thank you for the offer! We were considering seeing if anyone on these forums would mind us crashing for a night at their place but I was going to wait until a few months beforehand to do so. And if we keep our phones and try to use them there we'll do the UK sim card thing.
And I will definitely try and learn some basic French. I've heard things like they really dislike Americans or can be really rude to foreigners, is that true?
In the UK London is a must, though it is expensive. If you want 'quintessential' England then Oxford and the Cotswolds are great.
Paris and Rome are similar to London, very good, but you won't really get a proper taste of the country there due to the level of tourism, migratory work force etc.
I recommend a rail pass if you plan on doing a reasonable amount of travelling about, fast efficient railways link all the major cities in Europe and you get to see a lot of the countryside!
Yeah, the railpass was mentioned above and it's a great idea. We want to visit the big cities but we also want to see the countryside and smaller cities and towns too.
As far as Italy goes (that aren't the obvious cities) Siena and San Gimignano are nice
This, completely this. Everyone I met in Paris other than one or two people were very nice and gracious. You just have to make an effort to speak their language. Even if you do it poorly (like my wife and I did) they seem to really appreciate the effort.
Also, remember to say hello to the staff when you come into stores/restaurants/hotels. Its considered pretty rude not to. Bonjour in the morning, bonsoir in the afternoon.
If you are an art nut like me, check out Musee D'Orsay. In terms of art, it completely overshadows the Louvre which takes more of a historical/archaeological bent (which is interesting in its own right).
Don't have much to add, except that I loved this about Quebec City. So nice to see workers being treated with at least minimum respect.
I'm so relieved, this was actually a big concern of mine! I will definitely try and make an effort towards learning their language, this is one of the reasons we decided to wait at least a year before going.
It's amazing.
Travelling isn't hard, but you need to a) have a plan b) be willing to say fuck the plan and bail at any moment.
More general advice is understand its a different culture and realize that you are going to a different country to experience that. If you aren't willing to do that just go to little Italy or something in your city because you won't have a good time and you'll annoy everyone in earshot.
Pack sensibly. If you are going to be moving around a lot in cities look a luggage with wheels. If you are going to be more nomadic a flashpacker bag may be more useful.
Buy a simcard while you're over there to make life easier. It'll let you call people up at the last minute.
Seriously never be afraid to say fuck lemons and bail. You are on holiday. You are there to have fun. You might have a plan and you should, but you might find a once in a lifetime chance to do that. So keep your ears and eyes open for it and do it.
Language barriers are annoying, but at the very least learn, hello, goodbye, thankyou and how to count where you are. It'll get you pretty far.
Satans..... hints.....
Head out of Paris and visit the rest of the country - the French countryside is incredible, and the people are super awesome.
On the other hand, I've heard some real horror stories from family, although most of them centered on casual antisemitism.
Did not have this experience at all there, but I speak a good amount of French, so YMMV.
. . . Yeah well there is that. I guess I should mention that if you think that racism starts and ends with the US - Whooo boy . . .
They've been hating so long that its a lot more nuanced - like as in levels of hate depending on which sub-class you supposedly belong to.